


Thank you, Hyung.

by baekedchichen



Series: EXO DRABBLE RAMBLE [16]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-16 00:29:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13042746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baekedchichen/pseuds/baekedchichen
Summary: The best gift Luhan can give Minseok on his fortieth birthday is his wedding invitation.





	1. Am I Not The One?

**Author's Note:**

> I started this on a whim and then struggled to complete because im not good with angst. i guess this is a realistic take on xiuhan's relationship because we all know one of them is bound to get married one day. not sure if i should say i had fun writing this. but heres a suggested playlist to listen while you read this:
> 
> 1\. she's dreaming - exo  
> 2\. stay with me - punch & chanyeol  
> 3\. i'm not okay - chen  
> 4\. stay - zedd (for my english speakers)  
> 5\. stay the night - hayley williams

March 2030. Spring.

  
  
The glitz and glamour slowly faded to mundane. It is peaceful, and Minseok appreciates that. No more rushed schedules since the wee hours of morning, barely had enough time to sleep, much less eat or do anything else other than sing, dance, perform, rinse and repeat. His life now is much more mellow, like how he wished ever since he stepped into stardom. He still wakes up at 6AM in the morning and takes his time to get ready. Then, he heads off to the University he now works in, as a doctorate professor for the Philosophy programme. He still remembers how much he juggled between being EXO (and EXO-CBX)'s Xiumin and a post graduate Music Theory student studying for Philosophy at the doctorate level. The sleepless nights, only relying on caffeine and willpower to pull through. He is glad he had done so though, since stardom never lasts. He has a decent pay from lecturing, although not as much as when he was Xiumin. Life is just simple and sweet, just how he likes it.

  
  
He still keeps in touch with most of the EXO members. Some did not leave the company, and just assumed new positions. Jongdae, using his Masters in Advertising is a creative director for debut groups. Chanyeol is an executive sound producer. Jongin is a choreographer and dance teacher. Sehun is still signed under SM as a fashion icon and model. Some left but still flourish in the limelight. Baekhyun is an independent artiste. Yixing has his own work studio in China. And lastly, Junmyeon went back to his family business, now as managing director. Now come to think of it, EXO after EXO is still doing fine without the silver ocean, rampant cheers and daesangs. Nine men are just now nine, normal men pursuing what they want and like, not chasing the same dreams anymore. Simple and sweet, just how they ultimately like it.  


  
Being forty also means entering another stage of life. A stage of union.  


 

 

10th March 2030. Rainy.

 

  
"Oppa, you have a letter," Minseok's sister places the mentioned letter on his work desk. Her eyes are unreadable, maybe borderline worried? The male eyes her curiously before landing his vision on the letter. It is not a letter. It is an invitation. A wedding invitation.

 

"So who's getting married? Is it Chanyeol? I knew he will be the first one among us," he says coolly as he rips open the envelope. His sister stays silent.

  
It is a silver card with a glossy finish and a big "囍” in the middle. An elegant choice, Minseok thinks. Wait, chinese?

  
"So is it Yixing?" the elder laughs, "That's unexpected, I didn't know workaholics have time to date!"

  
The silence coming from his sister is rather unsettling, Minseok decides as he looks up to her when he opens the card.

  
"It's Luhan," her voice reduces to nothing but a whisper. It was a secret, well not actually since his sister and EXO knew, but still a secret nonetheless.  
  
Minseok finally looks down to the card, the message written in both Chinese and Korean.

 

 

 

  
_You are cordially invited to witness the beautiful union of Lu Han and Guan Xiao Tong._

_The couple blossomed since Spring 2017 and has finally decided to tie the knot._

_We hope to see you there with nothing but blessings for the new couple!  
_

 

 

 

 

  
But there was another handwritten note in barely recognisable korean.

  
_Minseok Hyung, please come!_

  
  
Minseok hopes his sister does not notice, but his hands are trembling just a little bit holding the card with too much strength.

  
  
Hyung? That's new.

  
  
Minseok does not register the wetness in his eyes.  


 

 

12th March 2030. Sunny.

 

  
"So Minhee still gave it to you?" Jongdae asks over a cup of coffee.

  
Minseok nodded, his eyes trained on the bubbles on his caffeine. One, two, pop.

  
Jongdae lets out a laugh, the kind that is dry and crackling, a hint of ridiculousness and defeat. "Can't believe he did that," he reaches into his bag and slams down a similar invitation.

  
"Us too," The two raise their heads to meet the new voice, Chanyeol and Baekhyun both had their invitations in their hands. Baekhyun settles beside his boyfriend, nesting his head on the crook of Jongdae's shoulder, while Chanyeol takes a seat beside Minseok.

  
"I'm guessing he's inviting all of us?" Minseok asks.

 

"Yup," replies Chanyeol, "just had a call with Yixing and found out Kris and Tao are invited too."

  
"It's Yifan and Zitao," scolds Jongdae.

 

"Sorry that I still remember you guys with your stage names, Chen-ssi."

 

Chanyeol gets a soft slap on his head.  


 

 

23rd March 2030. Windy.

 

 

  
"Oh boy, it is going to be an OT12 reunion," says Sehun as he adjusted his Louis Vuitton scarf.

  
"Yeah, the media is going to have a heyday!" laughs Jongin.

  
"You are arriving at Beijing International Airport. Please return to your seats and buckle your seatbelts as the pilot is preparing to land."

 

 

  
24th March 2030. Windy.

 

  
"I haven't had Beijing air since 2022 when we had our last concert." Exclaims Jongdae, as he stretches the knots out of his tired body. It has been a long time ever since he or any of the EXO members have endured such a long-haul flight. The unfamiliarity continues to tug their bodies into a whirlpool of possible jet-lag. Funny how this would be the mundane for them only eight years ago.

 

Yixing and Yifan actually wait outside the airport, with a sign saying “We Are One!” in Chinese, and in discreet Korean. Minseok thinks it is most possibly Yixing’s idea, but Yifan can be a cringeball too so he is not too sure.

 

“Welcome back!” Yixing says behind the mask. Well technically all of them are in some sort of disguise, as if they are still the nation’s boy group. It is better to be safe than sorry, reasons Junmyeon.

 

They moved on to the hotel that they were supposed to stay for the next three days, with amicable conversations between the ten members, mostly catching up, and reminiscing the past.

 

“Remember last time when Dispatch threatened to disclose the gay couple from some top boy group? Who knew that they were actually accurate!” laughs Sehun, as he took a sip from his iced Americano, five shots, on the rocks.

 

“Yeah!” exclaims Jongin, “but they got the couple wrong though, they thought it was me and Kyungsoo the entire time, but who knew that it was actually Baekhyun and Jongdae?”

 

“Hey, the KaiSoo ship was legendary back in the day, mind you,” Kyungsoo retorted, “but who knew I’ll be stuck with Chanyeol’s ass…”

 

“Babe, you weren’t complaining about that last night,” a deep voice chuckles beside him, “besides, everyone was so far into ChanBaek’s ass to even remotely think that BaekChen was the ultimate canon ship.”

 

“True,” Baekhyun replied, sipping Jongdae’s drink instead of his, even though they were the same drinks, “It took me so much willpower to actually stay quiet,”

 

“Now you don’t have to anymore, sweetheart.” smiles Jongdae, as he pecks Baekhyun on the cheek like a shy schoolboy on his first date. The other eight men gag at the sight, even though none of them are willing to complain.

 

Minseok’s heart stays light, as he laughs at the antics of all the members, the ones who has been with him for over a decade. Sometimes he feels the burden of being the oldest, having to care and look out for the younger ones, but he can always count on the next oldest to look into his eyes and tell him that everything is fine, until one fine day, when he left in 2014.

 

 

 

 

25th March 2030. Sunny.

 

The sun burns into Minseok’s eyelids, rousing him awake. Last day of being 39, the brown haired man thinks wistfully. 9.40AM, 3 hours shy from his usual wake-up time. Perhaps it was the jet-lag, perhaps that he strangely felt at home in this foreign place. He turns to his roommate for the vacation, who happens to be awake at the same time. Sehun smiles and greets, “Good morning, Hyung!” Minseok knows that the last day of his thirties will be a good one.

 

The other members planned to celebrate his birthday on this day since his actual birthday will be (sadly) spent in a wedding hall that is not his. And they made sure that it was a good one. For a bunch of thirty-somethings, Minseok thinks that they still weirdly have a bunch of energy, maybe all thanks to the stamina trained from the last decade and the half of non-stop dancing and live-singing. They went to venues where they previously had held tours, but with the strange feeling since no one could recognise them. The banners that used to be of them now filled with other unfamiliar faces. They sang to all their old songs in a dingy karaoke place, weirdly nostalgic for a once nation’s boy group, and stuffed their faces with as much Chinese food they could find. Especially for Minseok and Jongdae who had spent a considerable time in China while being in EXO-M, they try not to think of the steam buns who someone once nicknamed the eldest of the group the same exact food.

 

 

 

26th March 2030. A little windy, a little rainy.

 

Minseok wakes up to shaking and water splattering against the windows. After the whole night of drinking (tea and more bubble tea since no one wants to be hungover during the wedding), all eleven of them knocked out fast in their beds. His blurry vision cleared to Sehun’s face again, who only smiled and whispers “Happy 40th birthday, Hyung.” A light kiss on the forehead, “You’re old already.”

 

The wedding only starts later in the afternoon, so the team settles down for breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Baekhyun and Jongdae come down in hand in hand, still undisturbed when the waitresses cast weird looks at them. Jongin is in all smiles, texting his long-time girlfriend while Chanyeol lays Kyungsoo’s head on his shoulder as he softly drifts back to sleep. Sehun takes a photo of his food and sends it to his boyfriend back in Korea, a fashion designer who hand-makes almost all of Sehun’s wardrobe. Junmyeon is still on the phone with his fiancé (but no one knows yet), gushing about how he cannot wait to get back to her side.

 

Minseok feels weirdly alone, a feeling gnawing at his chest, and has been for a while. Despite him being the oldest, his side remains the coldest. “There is no pressure,” reminds Minseok’s father in his head, “just be happy for yourself, son,” his mother’s voice echoes. The new 40-year old bites quietly on his bread, until a snap of fingers wakes him out of his reverie. A cake with four candles greets him, along with the same seven faces, as they loudly sing the happy birthday song. Minseok hides the tears behind his lids as he closes his eyes to say a wish. He wishes to hold onto this feeling forever, a time when he does not feel truly alone. A time and a place he can call home.

 

 

 

4PM. Still a little rainy.

 

The venue is grand to say the very least, but who will expect nothing less of this when it is China’s two biggest stars who are tying the knot? The eleven men sit in the limousine as the vehicle turns the corner.

 

“Is this the first time the media has seen us all together after disbandment?” asks Chanyeol casually.

 

“Yea, let’s go boys.”  Junmyeon says as he opens the car door.

 

The lights were blinding when the team steps out of the car.

 


	2. He's Dreaming

  
"EXO?" A female reporter, possibly also in her thirties shouts over the lights and camera flashes, "They're here?" 

 

A question.

 

A surprise. 

 

The other eleven men smiled once again to the media. It feels familiar and yet foreign at the same time. 

 

"I think I still got the hang of it," whispers Jongin as he slides beside Minseok, "but wow this is difficult?"

 

Minseok agrees as he struggles to keep the smile on his face. He does not have to do so in the University, except when its the start and end of the semester, where he will have to address his classes as a whole. 

 

 _Think Xiumin, think Xiumin_. Minseok chants in his head and lets out a practised smile. 

 

They are then ushered towards their seats in the grand wedding hall. Around two tables off to the side of the hall. However, Minseok and Yixing are then ushered into a different room. Minseok looks at the Chinese man with a questionable expression. As he is about to ask, Yixing lets out a small smile, seemingly sad as if he is sending Minseok off into a dungeon. 

 

"I'm sorry, Hyung." he says softly and wraps his arm around the smaller man's shoulders, "But he wants to see you." Minseok nods. Minseok gets it. That is not Yixing's fault. 

 

Yixing then leaves the room, leaving Minseok in a fancy chair (somewhere he thinks that the bride should sit, but the bride is nowhere to be found). Then he waits. As he counts the number of marble tiles on the floor and then the candles around the room, the door opens, revealing the man he has not seen in a decade.

 

 _Luhan looks good_ , Minseok thinks. His laugh lines are still there, just more pronounced as age kind of took over. (Minseok is not spared either.) His doe eyes still kind and warm. Afterall, those were the features he first fell for back in 2012. His eyes were the ones who would warm Minseok's body even in the coldest of winters. His suit is stunning, carefully modelled to be one of a Prince Charming's. 

 

He suddenly remembers. All of it. Everything. And somehow, it _hurts_.

 

He remembers how he jokingly said that he wanted a fairytale wedding with his boyfriend as the Prince Charming. He wanted marble tiles paired with a white golden throne-like chair where he can for once sit and feel like a king. He wanted tall, white candles. He wanted baby breaths decorating the entire room. He wanted soft, jazzy music to be playing in the background as he says his vows. He wanted all of this. 

 

Luhan is not able to give him all of this, but yet he manages to give him all of this in the _**most painful way possible**_. 

 

"Minseok," the man before him barely breathes out, it is so soft that he remembers. He remembers how soft the voice can go, barely even the slightest of whispers into his ear, behind closed doors and curtains. He remembers how the other will call out his name, lock eyes, and then shyly thread their fingers together, away from the public's eye. 

 

Luhan steps a little closer and Minseok snaps out of his trance. He struggles to breathe, a heavy rock slams right against his chest. He recognises that it is probably his heart. 

 

"Don't," the elder man chokes out, his hands in front of him as he tries to push the other away, even though there is still a good foot and a half between them. "Don't come closer."

 

"Hyung," the man says again, "don't be like this, alright?" Another attempt to step closer.

 

 **"I already said don't come closer!** " Minseok screams, the loudness silencing the room. Luhan halts his steps, then steps back. He remembers. He remembers how Minseok will push him away when he comes too close to him in public. He remembers how Minseok pushes him away again a few months after his departure on a whim because he misses his then boyfriend so much. 

 

He remembers too. He remembers being pushed away way too often, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt every single time. 

 

Now a decade later, the raw hurt still resurface as Minseok screams in the room. The Chinese man swallows the lump in his throat, his eyes threaten to water. _Not now, Luhan_ , he reminds himself, _not on your wedding day._  

 

He watches as the man before him screw his eyes shut and practices heavy breathing to collect himself. He knows, because Yixing has later told him on a night when he was stuck in China during the THAAD period.

 

"Minseok does that after you left, Ge," Yixing said as he poured another drink for himself. "He does that to collect himself, to stay calm because there is no one there to hold him steady anymore." 

 

So he waits. And after he hears the older man's breaths getting steadier and steadier, he speaks normally for the first time.

 

"I'm sorry," Minseok says as he wills himself to inch closer, "I don't know what has gotten over me. I must have scared you." Except that those are all lies. They both know what had gone wrong, but both kept quiet. They both share a small smile.

 

"Anyways, congratulations on your marriage, Luhan." Minseok keeps a light tone. _A light tone is good,_ he thinks. "I'm sure you guys will be very happy, your bride must be stunning." 

 

Luhan struggles to choke out a 'Thank you.' Not sure if Minseok is capable of any physical contact, they stay silent for a while, until Luhan presents his hand. Luhan's hand is not empty, a ring sits prettily on his ring finger. Minseok smiles at the sight.

 

As expected. What does he even expect in this time and place?

 

So instead of taking his hand, Minseok pulls him in for a hug. They rest just like that for a while, as the touch practically burns Minseok alive. It feels warm, way too warm, and he wants to melt into it. He knows he can't.

 

The touch envelopes Luhan. He has not felt this warm in a decade. Things are not the same with Xiao Tong, it has never been. He has learnt to live with it, but having this feeling back is nice, even if it is for the last time. He can hear Minseok's heartbeat. He wants to melt into it. He knows he can't.

 

A gentle rapping on the door ends the shared trance as Minseok pulls away. He lets out a genuine smile and reaches to straighten Luhan's tie. 

 

"There," he says, "now you look better, congratulations again." Luhan looks at him glassy-eyed, and lets out a contented smile too.

 

Minseok hears a faint "thank you, thank you for being here." as he walks out of the room. Sighing heavily, his footsteps become lighter with each step, until he reaches the table he shares with EXO.  The members give him concerned looks, but he assures them that he is okay.

 

"I do." Xiao Tong says as she struggles to keep her tears away. _Minseok is right,_ Luhan thinks, _his bride is indeed stunning._

His eyes search for the man who used to be his lover, whom he smiles and gives a thumbs up. He waits, he takes a deep breath. It is his time. He hears his voice clearly as he says.

 

**_"I do."_ **

 

 

 

 

Minseok closes this chapter of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> anyways, leave a comment even though it can be a hate comment, i just wanna know which stories i should write more of...


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